A Midsummer Night's Dream

* Themes and plot elements from the Disney film The Lion King are inspired by Hamlet. * The film Gladiator (movie) somewhat parallels the plot of Hamlet. * The comedy Strange Brew (1983) is loosely based on Hamlet. However, the state of Denmark is replaced by the ownership of Elsinore Brewery and Hamlet is portrayed as a woman. * Hamlet features strongly in the film Renaissance Man, in which Danny DeVito's character uses its plot and characters to introduce a group of under-achieving soldiers to critical thinking. * Egyptian director Youssef Chahine frequently cites from Hamlet in his films. His films Alexandria... Why?(1978) and Alexandria... New York(2004) feature performances of soliloquies. In Alexandria Again and Forever (1990) Hamlet appears as a film within the film. * Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement. Lily, Princess Mia's best friend, refers to Mia's two chambermaids as "Rosencrantz" and "Guildenstern" * The Ninth Configuration featured mentally ill soldiers in an asylum, one of whom wants to stage an all-dog production of Hamlet - the title role, of course, going to a Great Dane. * In Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold and Kumar are neighbors of "Rosenberg and Goldstein", a Jewish mockery of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern. Also, Harold's love interest Maria visits the "Ophelia" movie theater. * In the cult British comedy film Withnail & I, Withnail's uncle Monty reminisces about giving up acting on realising that he would "never play the Dane" - how at that moment in a young man's life all ambition ceases. Withnail says it is a part he intends to play. The film finishes with Withnail in the rain making the speech from Hamlet "I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth" to some captive wolves. * The play has been referenced in the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday. In an English class, the play is discussed, and in the course of the scene, the quote from the 1948 film starring Laurence Olivier is used as the answer to the question "Describe the character of Hamlet." The answer: "A man who couldn't make up his mind." * In the film The Big Lebowski Walter says, "Goodnight, sweet prince" at Donny's funeral. * "Goodnight, sweet prince" is also said by a gang member after the shooting of Alex Murphy in Robocop * Hamlet is quoted in the Neil Jordan film, 'Interview With the Vampire'. Claudia, the child-vampire, quotes "Goodnight sweet prince, may flights of devils sing thee to thy rest." * The 2006 Chinese film The Banquet has a storyline closely based on the story of Hamlet. * The Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) character General Chang, a Klingon officer, is a Shakespeare aficionado, and opines that Shakespearian works were best experienced in the "original" Klingon. Indeed, Klingonists Nick Nicholas and Andrew Strader in 1996 published The Klingon Hamlet - a Klingon translation of the play. The Klingon version of the famous quote "to be or not to be", which Chang recites at a number of points in the film, is taH pagh taHbe' . * In Billy Madison, near the end when Billy and Eric are competing, Eric is reciting a piece from Hamlet and Billy interrupts by finishing the piece. * The horror movie A Nightmare on Elm Street features a dream sequence where the teenage heroine is in class listening to another student recite dialogue from Hamlet,"I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams." * Pan's Labyrinth features a main character named Ofelia whose father has died. * There is a brief mention of Uncle Yorick in the animated film Quest for Camelot. * In the film True Romance, the phrase, "something is rotten in Denmark" is used more than once. Also the protagonist is haunted by the 'King'. * In The Addams Family (1991), Wednesday and Pugsley perform a scene from Hamlet for a school play. * In both the musical and 2005 film adaptation of The Producers, Max Bialystock's musical "Funny Boy" closes on opening night. It is supposedly a musical version of Hamlet. * In Soapdish, Jeffrey Anderson (Kevin Kline) expresses his desire to perform a One-Man Hamlet, which he justifies by saying the whole thing is happening in Hamlet's head, so you only need one actor. * In Clueless (1995), Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) uses her familiarity with Mel Gibson (who once played Hamlet on film) to prove to her stepbrother's then-girlfriend that Polonius was indeed the character in Hamlet who says "To thine own self be true." * In The Departed, Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen) reminds Collin Sullivan (Matt Damon) that the "readiness is all" before a sting operation. * In Billy Madison, Billy & his arch nemesis are competing in an academic decathlon. For one section, they recite lines from Hamlet's soliloquy beginning with "To be or not to be, that is the question?" * In Gettysburg, Union Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain recites Hammlet's speech "What a piece of work is man. How infinite in faculties and form, and movement... How express and admirable. In action how like an angel" while discussing slavery. To which Sergeant Kilrain responds "Well, if he's an angel, all right then... But he damn well must be a killer angel." * In Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander, the children's father is rehearsing the part of the Ghost for a production of the play when he dies, and then appears to Alexander later in the film as an actual ghost. The play's plot is also referenced in other ways, including Alexander's hatred for and confrontation with his new stepfather. A character even explicitly tells Alexander that he is not Hamlet. * In The Empire Strikes Back, the fifth episode of the Star Wars saga, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) tries to reassemble the droid C-3PO's body while imprisoned in Cloud City. At one point, Chewbacca holds C-3PO's head in much the same way that Hamlet is traditionally depicted as holding Yorick's skull. This reference was intentional on the part of the director.[2] * The title of North By Northwest paraphrases Hamlet (Act II, Scene II), Hamlet is quoted as saying: "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw." * The wuxia film Legend of the Black Scorpion is loosely based on Hamlet.

== * Beast Wars: Transformers mirrored Hamlet's death in the episode "Code of Hero" in which former Predacon Dinobot takes on the entire Predacon team without backup in order to save a group of protohumans, ultimately saving humanity before it evolved into today's current existence. With his Maximal comrades crowded around his dying form, he quotes, "Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly; the ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly. The rest... is silence.". Dinobot also references Hamlet in the episode "Victory" when he states "Ah Tarantulas, I knew him, Cheetor. This were the legs that stalked so many victims", and before his death began a monologue about whether he could choose his own destiny with the words, "To be or not to be". * In both Tales of Interest Futurama episodes Bender's death is followed by the line "Goodnight, sweet prince." * In an episode of the original Star Trek series entitled "The Conscience of the King" features a production of Hamlet. Some aspects of the episode (e.g., Kirk's hesitation to confront a murderer until he is sure of his guilt) echo themes in the play. * In the Season 5 Oracle episode of Smallville, Clark Kent is visited by the "Ghost" of his father, who demands that Clark avenge his death. Clark struggles with the decision of how to act on his "vision." * The season 4 midseason finale of Stargate Atlantis is titled "This Mortal Coil". The following episode is titled "Be All My Sins Remember'd". Both are from Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" soliloquy. * The Season 5 episode The Paragon of Animals of Babylon 5 is named after a sentence in Hamlet's What a piece of work is a man. In this episode, the telepath Byron recites part of this speech.

== * Tom Stoppard's popular play (and subsequent movie) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead depicts the two title characters contemplating their roles as minor players in a bigger drama. Occasional scenes are taken directly from Hamlet. * Tom Stoppard also has a short entitled The Fifteen Minute Hamlet which includes Philip Seymour Hoffman in the cast. The fifteen minute version is followed by an even shorter version. * In a Gilligan's Island episode entitled "The Producer," the castaways put on a musical production of Hamlet set to the music of Carmen. * In Tales from the Crypt in the episode "Top Billing", a group of insane playwrights are attempting to stage a performance of Hamlet, and all they need is a skull. * A recent successor to Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis, aired an episode called "Lewis and the Ghost of Inspector Morse" which has many direct and indirect references to the play, and indeed Inspector Lewis uses a clue from his dead mentor to solve the case, an eerie parallel[citation needed] * In the Canadian television series Slings and Arrows, the famous actor Geoffrey Tennant returns to the New Burbage Theatre Festival, the site of his greatest triumph and most humiliating failure, to assume the Artistic Directorship after the sudden death of his mentor, Oliver Welles. When Geoffrey returns to the theatre, he finds that it is haunted by the ghost of the recently departed Oliver. Oliver and Geoffrey's interactions are comically reminiscent of the dialogue between Hamlet and the ghost of his father. With Oliver haunting him, Geoffrey directs a remarkable production of Hamlet. The cast includes Due South's Paul Gross, Rachel McAdams, and Mark McKinney. * In episode 3 of the first series of The Mighty Boosh Howard Moon quotes several lines from Hamlet on the subject of death. In the opening scene Howard recites the lines from Hamlet's third Soliloquy beginning "Death, the undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveller returns." * In an episode of Angel, one of the villains proclaims "there's nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so", a line from Hamlet. * In the anime Outlaw Star. the character Suzuka lives by the code "neither a borrower nor a lender be." * In multiple episodes of Joan of Arcadia, the play is mentioned. At first, Friedman is told he can go on a date with Judith if he memorizes the entire play. After Judith's tragic death and Friedman's completion of his task, he quotes multiple lines of love in her memory. * In a season 8 episode of ER entitled "Secrets and Lies," both Drs. John Carter (Noah Wyle) and Luka Kovac (Goran Visnjic) reveal that they both performed Hamlet in college; They played Horatio and Hamlet, respectively. Carter began to recite the "to be or not to be" soliloquy, but when he could not remember any more, Luka took over for him, beginning in English and finishing it in Croatian. * In Season 2 of Queer as Folk, Michael finds out from Ted and Emmett that Brian is in the back room of Babylon. When he goes in to see him, Brian asks who told him he was back there, "Rosencratz or Guildenstern?" * In Season 4 of Queer as Folk, Brian is contemplating whether Justin is justified in going out and beating up straight guys because a straight guy beat him up. When Ben tells him that violence is never a moral solution, Brian declares "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all." * In Season 4 of Queer as Folk, after Vic dies, Emmett says that it's tragic. Vic had AIDS, and Brian says that Vic was lucky to have the time that he did. In response to Emmett saying his death was tragic, he responds "Hamlet is tragic." * In one of the final scenes of the anime Cowboy Bebop the last words on screen before the credits say "Goodnight Sweet Prince." * The Sons of Anarchy draws many character parallels to Hamlet. * In the anime Code Geass Lelouch the protagonist appears reading Hamlet * In the Onimushavideo game series, many of the Genma bosses are named after some of the characters in Hamlet: Fortinbras is the Genma King, Rosencrantz Guildenstern is the evil genma scientist, Marcellus one of Guildenstern's greatest creations and a formidable foe for Samanosuke, Ophelia, Gertrude is the Genma hound dog, Guildenstern, Osric, Reynaldo (Sent to spy on Laertes) is also one of the names of one of Guildenstern's creations and a smaller genma you battle throughout the series and Marcellus, the first of Guildenstern's creations and the first boss in Onimusha I. * In the video game Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, after defeating Nupraptor and obtaining his head, the player can examine it in their inventory. Doing so prompts the character Kain to remark "Alas, poor Nupraptor, I knew him well. Well... not really." * In the video game Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht Albedo has the quote "frailty thy name is woman!" * In the video game Martian Gothic, during the first cutscene, "MOOD" quotes the "bounded in a nutshell" line. * In the video game Castlevania, there is a skeleton which kicks his skull around called Yorick

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* * The ninth chapter of James Joyce's Ulysses, commonly referred to as Scylla and Charybdis, is almost entirely devoted to a rambling discourse by Stephen Daedalus on Shakespeare, centering around the character Hamlet. As a character predicts more or less accurately in the very first chapter, "[Daedalus] proves by algebra that Hamlet's grandson is Shakespeare's grandfather and that he himself is the ghost of his own father." * Gertrude and Claudius, a John Updike novel, serves as a prequel to the events of the play. It follows Gertrude from her wedding to King Hamlet, through an affair with Claudius, and its murderous results, up until the very beginning of the play. * Dead Fathers Club, a novel by Matt Haig, uses intertextuality to retell the story of Hamlet from the point of view of an 11-year-old boy in modern England. * Anton Chekhov wrote a feuilleton titled I am a Moscow Hamlet (1891), the mutterings of a gossip-mongering actor who contemplates suicide out of sheer boredom. * Jasper Fforde's novel Something Rotten includes Hamlet - transplanted from the BookWorld into reality - as a major character. This version of Hamlet frets about how audiences perceive him, complains about the performances of actors who have portrayed him, and at one point resolves to go back and change the play by killing Claudius in the beginning and marrying Ophelia. * In Kurt Vonnegut's "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater" the protagonist, Eliot Rosewater, writes a letter to his wife while pretending to be Hamlet. * David Bergantino's novel "Hamlet II: Ophelia's Revenge", set in modern Denmark, portrays Ophelia rising from the dead to get revenge on Hamlet. * Nick O'Donohoe's 1989 science fiction novel Too Too Solid Flesh portrays a troupe of android actors designed specifically to perform "Hamlet"; when the androids' designer is murdered, the Hamlet android decides to investigate. * In Kyle Baker's 1996 graphic novel The Cowboy Wally Show, Cowboy Wally's masterpiece is the film "Cowboy Wally's HAMLET", a modernized version produced in secret while Wally was in prison. * David Foster Wallace's novel Infinite Jest takes its name from Hamlet's speech about Yorick, and features a main character struggling with his uncle's influence following the suspicious death of his father. * In the short story Much Ado About (Censored) by Connie Willis, a pair of high school students volunteer to help their teacher edit the play in a satire on political correctness. * Charles Dickens, at the beginning of A Christmas Carol makes reference to the play while explaining the absolute necessity of realizing the truth of Jacob Marley's being dead: : :: "If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet's Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot-say Saint Paul's Churchyard for instance-literally to astonish his son's weak mind." * "In The Halls Of Elsinore," a short story by Brad C. Hodson, takes place in an Elsinore occupied by Fortinbras. Told from Horatio's point of view, the story is about a malignant presence that resides in Elsinore- the same presence that appeared to young Hamlet as his father. * The line, "Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night," ends the second part of T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land. * T.S. Eliot's poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, includes the line, "No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be". *

There are three uses of the word "crown" in the play.

1. In Act I Scene 2, Bottom talks about wearing a "French Crown coloured beard", a crown being a gold coin. This is the basis of one of Shakespeare's favourite jokes, since "French Crown" also meant the bald head which resulted from the "French disease", syphilis. Curious that Shakespeare, who was himself prematurely bald, should like this bald joke so much.
2. In Act II Scene 1 both Bottom and Titania talk about crowns of flowers. Although neither of them is talking about a wedding, it was customary to crown the bride with flowers on her wedding day. That is an appropriate image in this play which is circumscribed by a wedding.
3. In Act III Scene 2, Helena refers to the heraldic device of a crown used as the crest of a coat-of-arms. She uses this as part of her argument that her interests and Hermia's ought to be considered to be the same--their sameness is the same as two different iterations of the same coat of arms.